Creating The Future
by Takagano Dai
Summary: A way to save them all. Lightning doesn't mind that she might just destroy everything in the process. Features Noel Kreiss. R
1. Chapter 1

„I'm a failure!"

The wail was heard throughout the whole of the room.

"I was meant to protect her, to shield her from harm. And now she's dead!" he yelled, oblivious to his surroundings. To the soft clanking of armour behind him.

"I should've died! It should've been me!"

His cries drowned out the sound shallow breathing at his back. The sound of rustling clothes.

"She'll never forgive me!"

"But I do." A voice from behind him answered his cries.

Noel turned around, his eyes red and puffy, tears staining his cheeks. His hair, greasy and dirty was plastered to his head and face.

"What?"

She knelt beside him, an arm thrown around him to heave him from the dusty floor. He didn't struggle and let her do what ever she wanted to do with and to him but watched her incredulous.

"What did you just say?"

"I said," she repeated, "that I forgive you. It wasn't your fault. Nothing of it."

Her arm never left its place around his torso. "If anyone is to blame, than it would have to be me. I asked you to bring her to me, after all."

Noel stared at Lightning. Hard. A scowl was firmly placed on her face and her jaw was clenched. She didn't look back at him but rather at the ground in front of her feet.

"Lightning.."

He didn't know what to say. What _could_ he say to make her feel better? She wasn't beating him into submission like he thought she would. She wasn't crying – he thought she would. It was her _sister_ after all. All she did was scowling, like she did every day.

Noel did not want to know how broken she was on the inside. She blamed herself for something that was clearly not her fault. It was _his_.

"Lightning...do you need help?"

Her gaze snapped to him and he wondered how that speed didn't break her neck. She rose her sword, pointed it in front of them.

"Help? With what? There's only one thing we can do. Go on. Move forward."

He scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Are you saying you're just forgetting tha-" He had to stop as he was pushed to the ground. She was as fast as her namesake, if not faster. The tip of her blade was lightly pushed into his chest, just enough for him to get the point but not enough to draw blood or hurt him.

"Never." she snarled. "I won't ever forget what has happened. Don't suggest I do."

"But -"

"She wouldn't want me - _us_ -to hang onto this moment and never start living again. You know that." Lightning said, slowly shaking her head. "So let's do this."

Noel didn't understand - not during that small moment at least - what it meant for the both of them. He took the hand she offered to him to get back to his feet.

"Thank you."

Her whisper nearly didn't register in his mind as soft as it was. But in the end it did and he smiled. Offered her a bit of hope and light and just a bit of _future. _She held her sword to her side, not letting it go. Her gaze was directed to the front, the corner of her lips tugged up a tiny bit. Barely noticable.

Noel ruffled his hair a little bit, feeling the grease in it. He frowned. How long had he been sitting there, grieving? How long would he still have been there, had Lightning not come to pick him up? He shook his head.

"So," he turned to his companion. "What exactly are we going to do now?"

"I don't know." she answered.

"Huh?"

"Well. I haven't planned anything. Yet."

"Oh."

Noel started fiddling with his sword, restlesness consuming him. He wanted to do _something_. He didn't mind what it was, as long as he _acted_.

"Before he died, Caius told us he had killed you."

Lightning looked at him, not knowing what he wanted to say. "He said you had fallen into a deep slumber and wouldn't awaken in time."

"He was obviously wrong, wasn't he." she stated, huffing and crossing her arms.

"But why?" he questioned, looking at her, trying to find reason. "Why aren't you still asleep?"

She didn't immedietly answer and an uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Lightning clenched and unclenched her hand on the hilt of her sword while biting her tongue, thinking. Just as Noel thought she wouldn't answer anymore, she did.

"Because you needed me."

She turned to him, a hand on her hip. "I felt how lost you are. How deep you had sunken into grief...it...roused me from the stasis."

"Wha-?"

Lightning scowled at him. "Don't think I didn't want to be there when Serah needed me. Don't think I didn't want to go to her." She scoffed. "As powerful as I am, I'm equally as useless it seems. I felt my heart break...and then I felt yours break. So I awoke."

"Y-you only came for me?" he stuttered.

"No."

"But?"

"I'm not here..not completely at least." She gestured to herself. "What you see is only a remnant of my soul. No idea why I'm able to touch you."

He stared at her, for the first time noticing the soft flickering of her body. As if she would vanish into air at any moment.

"Noel."

His head shot up, her steady gaze drilling into his. "Yeah, Lightning?"

"Serah...wanted to create a new future, didn't she? Where everything was peaceful and where everybody was there. All of us."

He nodded to her words, silently urging her to go on.

"I.." she hesitated. "I want to complete her dream. It's possible."

"Yeah, me too." he agreed with her.

She brushed a hand through her hair.

"Noel. I'm bound to Etro's throne. To my body. So.."

"You want me to do it?" he guessed. She inclined her head.

"Please. For Serah."

"Sure. For Serah."

Lightning started walking once more and Noel couldn't do anything else but follow her. He had no idea where she was going but what did it matter. He sword was stashed away on his back, his arms swinging lazily beside him in the rythm of their feet. He watched the way Lighting moved. So..graceful. Agile. Swift.

She stopped at once and he was hard pressed not to bump into her back. When she turned her focus was solely on him. A frown marred her face and her eyes were narrowed.

"I want you to create a paradox."

He did a double-take at her words, finding nearly no spit to swallow. "What?"

"You heard me."

She held a hand to his face, something burried in her fist.

"With Etro dead Chaos will reign anyway. There's nearly no way to stop it."

He shook his head, pushing her fist away. "You're wrong!"

"I wish I was." she snarled. _Snarled._ "But I'm not. And you know that!"

Lightning opened her hand showing him what she had held in it. Serah's engagement necklace. She pushed it into his chest.

"Take it." she urged.

"Why?" He was confused. What was going on? He took it anyway, cradling it to his chest.

"You'll need something to verify your claims on who you are and where you're from."

"What the hell is going on, Lightning? What are you planning?"

She glared at him, scoffing. He glared back.

"To change the future you need to change the past. That's what's going on. I'm still able to create a gate. Send you back. To safe us all."

His eyebrows rose until they made aquaintance with his hairline.

"You want me to change..everything?"

She brushed a bit of her hair behind her ear.

"How else can we do anything?"

The question threw him for a loop and he couldn't find an answer, no matter how willing he was. He thought about what she had told him, what it would mean for him, for everyone.

"So what exactly am I going to do? Where are you sending me?"

The grateful look she threw him eased the pain in his soul. It just helped. Her voice was soft when she answered.

"You'll be going to Cocoon. To Eden. You'll meet some people there and I want you to help them with their journey."

"What journey?"

She ignored his input and contiuned.

"Tell them who you are, where you are from. If you ever need any help.." She stared at the necklace in his hands. "Call for me. I might be able to help you or at least send someone."

A soft smile graced her lips. "Thank you Noel."

"I haven't even agreed."

"But you haven't declined either."

He sighed, throwing his head back. "This will ruin everything."

She smirked. "What else is there to be ruined?"

He laughed. "True. When am I going?"

Lightning pointed behind him, towards the far wall. "Now." A portal appeared, swirling menacely. "Be careful."

Noel nodded, smiling at her once more before he walked towards it. "Sure."

Preparing for the worst, he stepped threw the colourful arc, feeling a biting wind and seeing nothing but white for a second.

Then the colour returned to the world and he found himself face to face with the tip of Lightnings Blazefire Saber.

Only...a few years in the past.

**Soooo. This time it's Noel being the one send back, not Lightning. Poor fellow having to put up with her moody self. You'll have noticed that the beginning was a kind of AU version of FFXIII-2's end. It was meant to be that way.**

**Lightning coming back from stasis upon noticing Serah's death..that was an idea that stuck in my mind for a while.**

**The whole thing is pretty short at the moment but I do have a few ideas in mind, so there might be another chapter soon. Or not.**

**ANYWAY.**

**Tell me what you think about it. **

**Regards**

**Taka.**


	2. Chapter 2

Noel swallowed the lump that stuck in his throat. Now he knew why foes cowered in front of Lightning. Her stare was traumatizing. It was filled with so much anger, restlessness and loathing that he just wanted to turn around and run away. But he didn't. Because this time he would not break his promise. He would fulfill his deeds, would follow her wish.

"Who are you?" Lightning barked, her sword now an inch from the crease between his eyebrows.

He knew that tone. If he didn't answer she would kill him. She didn't know who he was, so she didn't trust him one bit. Behind her the rag-tag group of L'Cie bunched together, all with their weapons at hand. Vanille stared at his clothes, the Pulsian design dominant.

"Where are we?" Noel asked, not too sure of their location at the time. Lightning - his times Lightning - hadn't told him too much, he belatedly realized.

Fang pushed through the crowd, her lance swung casually over her shoulder. Ready to attack at any time but not being aggressice towards him at the same time. "You were asked first, kiddo." A lazy grin stretched across her face. Predatory.

"Noel. Noel Kreiss." he said, clenching and unclenching the fist with the pendant all the while. He was nervous, overly so. But he couldn't care less at the moment. _Tell them who you are. Where you are from._ Lightnings advice rumbled in his head. How? When? _Now?_

"I'm...I mean, I.." He didn't find the right words to phrase his thoughts.

"Did you just pop out of thin air, or what?" The confused question of course came from Snow, who was trailing a bit behind the others. He seemed to be downtrodden. His characteristic grin and good mood were both not in place. Noel hadn't met the guy too often but from the things he had whitnessed and Serahs endless tales he had a different picture painted in his mind.

"Yeah, I guess so." He chuckled, trying to diffuse the tension. As a reaction Blazefire Sabre was pushed a bit further, stinging and drawing first blood.

"Nobody just 'pops out of thin air'!" Lightning growled. "Who send you? Bathandalus? Someone else?"

Noel sighed, hoping he'd find the right things to say. He eyed the others. They were as tense as he felt. That didn't make it any easier for him though.

"I was sent here by somebody who wants to help you, but couldn't come in person."

"Sounds like some other Fal'Cie, if you ask me." Sazh commented, gazing at Noel from behind his guns.

"No! Not a Fal'cie. I...shit." he cursed. He wanted to shake his head but feared to worsen the cut. "I'm here to help you regarding your task!"

He couldn't have said anything more offensive. Lightning stiffened and narrowed her eyes, staring him down. Sazh clenched his jaw and leveled his guns at Noels head. Hope seemed ready to faint, still exhausted from the Barthandalus debacle. Snow and Vanille didn't say anything. And Fang?

Fang scowled, lifting her lance from her shoulder. "Destroyin' Cocoon? I think we're good enough to kill a few Vipers on our own, thanks kiddo."

"Fang!", Vanille scolded, already halfway to apologizing to the others when Noel's smile stopped her.

"You're just like I was told. Stubborn, proud..."

"Well, who the hell told ya 'bout me, huh?" Fang asked, taking an offensive stance, weapon raised beside her.

"Serah did." he offered. Lightning's arm feel limp by her side.

"Serah?" she breathed. Her voice was so small, it was as if it wasn't her voice at all. As if someone had drained all the energy out of her. Snow's reaction was on the opposite side of the scale.

"Serah?" he bellowed, brushing through Lightning and Fang, coming to a stop directly in front of Noel. "How do you know Serah?"

"How does she know me anyway?" Fang whispered incredulously.

Noel lifted both his hands in front of him, trying to block Snow from coming any closer. Doing that he forgot about the pendant in his fist. It fell and a metallic clank was heard as it collided with the ground. Snow and Noel both looked down, staring at it. The brunette tried to explain.

"You see..I am kinda...from the future."

He couldn't say anything else before Lightning rushed up to him and pressed him against the wall behind his back. "Is this a joke? Who the fuck are you? Stop playing with us!"

He gasped, not getting enough air. "Yo-you send me. Here." He coughed. "Try'na change...things...ev'rythin'."

Snow and Fang were both hard pressed to get Lightning off of him, but as soon as they did he fell to the ground sputtering and gasping for air.

Sazh had stashed away his guns, helping Vanille with lifting him off the ground. "This is either a miracle, or you're nuts." Noel looked at him, relieved to see the small smile tugging at the pilots lips. He gave one of his own in return, bowing his head in gratitude.

"Well, kiddo. I'm not sure 'bout believin' you and your fairy tail, but you ain't seemin' to be an enemy either." Fang told him, still holding Lightning down. The soldier was scowling harder than ever, as if trying to figuring out a puzzle in front of her. Noel nodded at both of them, accepting the fact that they didn't trust him. Yet. He planned on changing that if he wanted to fulfill his task.

"So your name's Noel and you're from the future, sent by Lightning. To change something. And you know Serah." Vanille summarized his situation for all of them. She had one of her fingers pressed to her lips, staring of in the distance.

"Sounds about right."

"You have her necklace." Snow added, sounding suspicious. "Did she give i to you?"

"No. Lightning did." He picked it up from the ground in front of him, looking for any lasting damage after its fall. It looked like always. He stowed it away in his pocket, so he wouldn't loose it later on. The group of L'Cie were forming a semi-circle around him, some scowling or frowning, others looking thoughtful. "She gave it so I could proof who I am. Why else would you believe me?"

"That's true." Sazh nodded.

"Why now?" Hope murmured, all attention snapping to him. "Why are you arriving now, though. You could have come way earlier and prevented this whole thing. That's what you're here for, right? To change things." The boy looked at him, not sure how to react to the situation.

Noel just shrugged.

"I'm not sure."

He sat down on the ground, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "She didn't tell me much before sending me off."

"Why me, anyway? What has happened that I sent you? Who are you to me?" Lightning asked, refusing to sit down and leaning against the wall instead. Noel hesitated, unsure how to respond. He played with the hem of his pants, biting on his tongue.

"I owe you." he said. "I don't know why you trusted me again after I have failed you so miserably the last time. But you did and now I'm here. I can't tell you anything else. I'm sorry."

"You failed? How?"

"In the most horrible way." he whispered, turning his gaze away from her. His eyes found Vanille's and she beamed at him.

"You must be exhausted."

He nodded. "I am."

"A lot has happened. Here too, I mean. I suppose all of us should catch some sleep.", she announced, staring at Hope and Lightning, then looking at Fang.

"I ain't sleeping with that guy 'round." Fang said, pointing at him. "Just 'cause he has some jewelry with him doesn't mean he speaks the truth. No matter what he says. And the future? That's bloody ridiculous, and ya know it!" she added.

"I'm not sure." Snow said. "Not many knew about Serah's necklace."

"Well. Then he stalked ya, or whatever." the Pulsian argued.

"Why Serah's necklace anyway?" Hope asked into the round. All of them turned to Noel who just shrugged.

"I guess ... it was one of the only things in out immediate reach that could make you believe." he said, leaning back on his hands. "I could tell you stuff that only you know, but that isn't that much more of a proof."

Lightning nodded and continued to stare at him.

"You're here to help destroy Cocoon? Why would I want that?"

Noel looked at her, confused with her question. "I never said you did. I'm just here to help you -"

"With our task, yes you already said that. But our task - our focus - IS to destroy Cocoon." she interrupted him.

He shook his head. "I thought it was to destroy Orphan."

"Ain't that the same?" Fang crossed her arms.

"Not necessarily. I mean, yes. He practically is Cocoon's life force..but..uhm.." He looked at the ground, bewildered with the situation. "I haven't really thought about it up until now, you know. Seconds before I came here, Lightning asked me to go through time, create a...paradox." he mumbled.

"A para-what?" Snow asked.

"A paradox. A twist in the time-line, or whatever you want to call it. Paradoxes are meant to be solved, not created. I don't..." Noel swallowed, moisturing his lips. "Before I came here, she had tasked me with the elemination of paradoxes. Terminate them to stabilize time and hinder chaos from turning the world upside down."

"If creating a paradox means to destroy the world, then your existence here.." Vanille gasped, realizing what it meant.

"I'm a factor, yes." he agreed. "But that isn't always a bad thing. Lightning - nobody wants Chaos taking over..except Caius maybe, but who knows what's going on in his head anyway." Noel grumbled. "It's a controlled paradox, if there is such a thing. I know the general outline of things, so I can plan my actions inside that frame."

"How can you know that much, if you aren't - or weren't - here with us. You ain't a L'Cie." Sazh commented, sitting down against the wall and gesturing all around them with one of his hands, while the other rested in his lap. The chocobo chick was flying around, chirping happily. Noel was momentarily distracted by it, remembering the time when he met its humaniced version, manning a shop and selling him various stuff. It was weird seeing it that small, and fluffy yellow. Being a real bird.

He shook himself free from his thoughts and returned to the matter at hand. "I was told a lot of your journey, most of my knowledge is second hand. Some even third hand. Serah told me lot, Hope some, Lightning a bit." he summarized. "They never told me everything. I know where you've been, most of the enemies you've faced ... and some L'Cie stuff."

"So you really know what is to come." Hope looked at him curiously, hopefully.

Vanille clasped her hands. "That is good, isn't it? It means we are prepared."

"If he doesn't change too much, just by being here." Sazh said, joining in once more. "Which was the initial question."

"Well." Noel said. "I can't promise you anything, but I'll do my best. And...if it helps...I can call for some advice with the pendant. Advice from my time."

"Really?" Vanille was astonished. She hadn't thought that such a thing existed or was possible.

"Yeah. If they haven't forgotten about me, that is." he murmured. "The portal I used..the Historia Crux...it kinda writes you out of history. Means they might not remind me in the first place."

"That's horrible!"

"That's what I want for proof, then!" Fang cried. "If ya have the possibility to call upon Sunshine, or whoever, then do it. Now!"

Everyone looked upon her as if she was crazy, yelling like a lunatic. But they saw the fire in her eyes, and they knew they wanted proof just as much as she did. So all of the rag-tag group turned to Noel Kreiss, expecting another miracle of him. He deadpanned at them.

"I don't even know how it works.."

"Then try." Lightning demanded. He rolled his eyes, wishing Mog or Serah were here to help him out.

_Serah.._

It was for her sake, her dream that he was here in the first place. Memories swirled in his mind as he clenched his fist around her pendant, murmuring to him self. The others couldn't understand what he said, and he himself wasn't too sure of it either. The necklace grew warm in his hands, emitting a soft white glow.

"What the - ?"

**A/N:**

**Well, well, well. Who would've thought that this was the first of my fanfics I'd update next? I sure didn't. But the mood for it was there so I did. **

**So. Uhm. What to say, what to say. **

**I'm not quite happy with the chapter. I don't think I've ever written something with that much dialogue, so I'm not sure if it's good at all or not. Tell me if you'd like some more action in between or if that's alright with you.**

**Next point. Thank you for those nice reviews. I wasn't sure if a story of that genre was received good at all or not. Thanks. **

**To the question what the necklace does exactly, I suppose we will see that next chapter.**

**No idea when the next update's going to be.**

**Please review.**

**Regards**

**Taka**


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